Michigan DNR shares details of research during the 2025 fishing seasons in the Great Lakes.
Lake Superior saw the R/V Lake Char’s crew, based out of the Marquette Fisheries Research Station, perform work monitoring fishery resources for important species such as lake trout, whitefish and burbot. Surveys began as soon as lake ice melted and continued through November last year.
Data from the spring adult lake trout surveys show a slight increase in populations east of the Keweenaw Peninsula and a slight decline in populations in the western area. Summer juvenile surveys of lake trout indicate small declines in areas between Ontonagon and Marquette, while showing a slight bump in eastern waters.
In June 2025, the research vessel surveyed Big Reef to assess lake trout in the deepest waters of the Great Lakes, searching for siscowet lake trout. The unique lake trout morphotype are most abundant in the deepest areas of Lake Superior.
Learn more about fishery surveys conducted by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources in the Great Lakes during 2025 online.
